If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Antelope skulls

I have the horn sheaths from a buck I got a few years ago but a dog ran off with the skull. I was wondering if I were to ever fill a doe tag, if I could just clean up the skull and attach the sheaths to the doe skull. I've never taken a doe so I don't really have a good idea of how much bone they have sticking up from their little horns, or if they even have any bone sticking up at all.

They do but it's very small. You do know the black patches on the side of a buck is not present on a doe wich is the most distinctive way to tell a doe from a buck other then horns? Not that you can't do it just that folks would know your buck horns are on a doe. I will also say that I have seen does with some big horn before.

They do but it's very small. You do know the black patches on the side of a buck is not present on a doe wich is the most distinctive way to tell a doe from a buck other then horns? Not that you can't do it just that folks would know your buck horns are on a doe. I will also say that I have seen does with some big horn before.

It wouldn't be a shoulder mount with the hide. I'm talking about a way to do a European mount. Or for that matter any ideas on how to display my horns without a skull would be helpful too.

It wouldn't be a shoulder mount with the hide. I'm talking about a way to do a European mount. Or for that matter any ideas on how to display my horns without a skull would be helpful too.

Maybe they make a plastic skull like they do for deer you can mount them on. I know my taxi has a crap load of skulls without the leaves on them. I'll find out if they are available for you to purchase or if they are available in plastic you can order.

I would suggest a reproduction skull, a quality one will run you about $50-$75 (from a supplier if you do all the work yourself, not including plaque either) and will last multiple lifetimes, plus they do not stink and you do not have to worry about cleaning them.

If you are looking for an excellent reproduction skull, I would contact taxidermist Danny Benson in Klamath Falls, Oregon (541) 891-7882. He does amazing work. You can get the skulls in either white or bronzed.

Here is a pic of his antelope skull in bronze. Unfortunately I don't have a pic of the white skull. This pic gives you an idea of the nasal cavity detail and the teeth detail.

Here's our story. In 2008, my son shot a desert sheep and planned to do a European mount. He sold the life sized cape and left the head and horns at a taxidermist in Arizona. The summer of 2012, after 3.5 years of waiting we got his mount back and the skull was cut off and was leather wrapped. Besides that the taxidermist did not package it well and it was damaged in shipping. I spent weeks running down leads on who did the best reproduction skulls. Most sheep skulls I found were half skulls with the teeth "sawn" off since they don't want to mess with the nasal cavity and teeth detail. Numerous leads off of another outdoor forum lead me to Danny Benson and he had done a full antelope skull. As I talked with Danny, he said he could not find reproduction skulls with the quality he was looking for for his own work, so he had begun to do his own skull reproduction work. The antelope was one of his first. I talked to him about redoing my son's sheep. He said he was looking for the next skull reproduction he wanted to do and took the project on. He secured a sheep skull from fish and game and used that for the pattern. In only a few months he had done a skull reproduction, repaired the broken horn and remounted my son's sheep.